A Survey of Musical Background and an Analysis of Mexican Piano Music from 1928 to 1956
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
/ 1~ ~ 2$1 1', ~ A SURVEY OF MUSICAL BACKGROUND AND AN ANALYSIS OF MEXICAN PIANO MUSIC FROM 1928 TO 1956 THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By Charlotte Frances Slight, B. A. Denton, Texas June, 1957 PREFACE The Revolution of 1910 in Mexico marked a great politi- cal and social upheaval. At the same time a recasting of Mexico's music occurred. Modern Mexican music is a unique combination of the influence inherited from Europe and the indigenous music of the country. This work attempts to trace the development of that combination. Chapter I gives a background of music in Mexico through Pre-Cortesian times, the colonial period and the operatic nineteenth century. Chapter II deals with the men who shaped present day music in Mexico. Chapter III is an analysis of selected twentieth century piano works. The analysis shows the tendencies of ten Mexican composers in their use of melody and rhythm. It includes a discussion of harmonic structure and tonality. The composers whose works were chosen for consideration in the analysis range from Manuel M. Ponce, considered the father of modern Mexican music, to Carlos Chavez, recognized as the outstanding exponent of music in Mexico today. Much of the music from the contemporary period is unpublished and remains in manuscript form in Mexico. The author spent the summer of 1954 in Mexico gathering material iii there and interviewing musicians in that country. An appendix contains these interviews. It is hoped that this work will encourage musicians to investigate further the promising field of contemporary music in Mexico, particularly contemporary Mexican piano music. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE .A.E. vi LIST OF TABLES.R.I. vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .0.0.. 0.a. 0.0... 0..b .0.0.vii Chapter I. PRE-CORTESIAN MUSIC, THE COLONIAL PERIOD, AND THE OPERATIC NINETEENTH CENTURY . 1 II. PERSONALITIES INFLUENCING TRENDS IN PIANO music. 22 III. AN ANALYSIS OF MEXICAN PIANO MUSIC FROM 1928 TO 1956B6. APPENDIX.* .*. .0.0 .0. .0.#. .0.0 .0. .0.*. .0.0 .0. 81 BIBLIOGRAPHY.* .*.9 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 . 0.0. #. *. 9. 0. 0. *. 0. a. 0. 0. 93 V LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Tendencies in Melodic Movement. 62 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Ponce, Deux Etudes, Etude I, measures 1-4. 59 2. Chavez, Sonata, 1928, third movement, measures 30-33 . 59 3. Tello, Triptico Mexicano . 60 4. Otey, Sonata Tenochtitlan, first movement, --- . --- 60 measuresT32-35- - . 5. "Los Xtoles" and the Ancient Mexican Dance . 65 6. Galindo, "Prelude II," Cinco Preludios, and Chavez, Sonata, 9. 65 7. Jarabe Tapatfo, the Mexican national folk dance. 66 8. Otey, Sonata Tenochtitlan, fourth movement, measures T44-49.. .67 9. Alabanza III (Yaqui) and Conchero. 68 10. Otey, Sonata Tenochtitlan, first movement, measures 6-9.* . 69 11. Carrillo, Fantasia Impromptu, measures 406-407 . 69 12. Primitive Song (Yaqui) ............ 70 13. Moncayo, "Pieza I from Tres Piezas, measures 14-19 . 70 14. "La Sandunga". 71 15-. Moncayo, "Pieza II," Tres Piezas, measures 1-8 . 71 16. Galindo, "Prelude V," Cinco Preludios, measures 9-12.. .. .0.0. .&. 72 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Continued Figure Page 17. Romance de Roman Castillo, from a corrido, and La Chachalaca, a folk song about a bird . 73 18. Moncayo, "Pieza III," Tres Piezas, measures 146-153 -0- -0- -0. .0. .0. .0. -0- . 0.. 0. 73 19. Adelita. 74 t 20. Ponce, "Etude II," DeuxEtudes, measures 24-25 . 74 21. Tello, Triptico Mexicano, second movement, measures 9-12 12-.......... 75 22. Chavez, Sonata, 1928, first movement, measures 1-O5 . 0.0.0.0. 0.9.0.0. 0.a.0.0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 76 23. Otey, Sonata Tenochtitlan, second movement, measures2-0... 77 24. Galindo, "Prelude V," Cinco Preludios, .. .. 78 measures 54-57. 9 25. To the Senor de Sacromonte. .......... 78 26. Galindo, "Prelude V," Cinco Preludios, measures 60-62. 79 viii CHAPTER I PRE-CORTESIAN MUSIC, THE COLONIAL PERIOD, AND THE OPERATIC NINETEENTH CENTURY The nature of the earliest music of Mexico, that of its aborigines, is a matter of speculation today. On one hand there are those who believe that no records can be found of the actual musical system of the ancient Indians and, there- fore, any conclusions drawn are unfounded and not valid. Of the opposite view are those who believe that definite con- clusions can be drawn concerning this music. One leading proponent of the latter view, Robert Stevenson, believes that conclusions can be reached following three lines of investigation: (1) the systematic study of the musical instruments which such peoples as the Aztecs, Mayas and Tarascans are known to have used; (2) the assembling of opinions on Aztec music from sixteenth century authors who were friendly to Indian culture rather than opposed to it; (3) the collection of melodies from certain out-of-the-way Indian groups which even today, after the lapse of cen- turies,may still preserve in their music some of the basic elements found in the pre-Cortesian system.1 1 Robert Stevenson, Music in Mexico (New York, 1952), 1 2 After prolonged investigation of pre-Conquest instru- ments, scholars have gathered sufficient evidence to estab- lish the following conclusions concerning the development of music among the aborigines in Mexico. (1) An essential sameness prevailed everywhere in the type of instruments used (2) the organography of pre-conquest music was static (3) all pre-Conquest instruments were either idio- phones, aerophones, or membranophones.2 Idiophonic instruments were used to produce a sound which was to convey a special meaning symbolically. An instrument of this type was the teponaztli, a sort of two-keyed xylo- phone struck in the center. In the same classification of idiophonic instruments were the omitzicahuastli, a rasp of human or animal bone, and the ayacachtli, a rattle of clay with pebbles inside or a gourd with seeds. Aerophones included instruments for the increasing of sound. Among these were the tlapitzelli, a four hole flute of clay, reed or bond, and the tepuzquiquiztli, a conch shell trumpet. The membranophones were the group of instruments producing sound through varieties of drums struck at either end such as the huehuetl, akin to our modern kettledrum.3 21bid., pp. 8-12. 3Samuel Mart , Instrumentos Musicales Precortesianos (Mexico, 1955), pp. 6-15. 3 Stringed instruments, in accordance with our western conception of them, were entirely unknown. In remote Indian tribes today can be found instruments employing only one string and these are used for rhythmic purposes rather than for melodic efforts. The Aztecs frequently inscribed their various instruments with carvings which tell symbolically what purposes the instruments were intended to serve.+ In museums throughout Mexico can be seen many of the actual instruments used by the early peoples of the country. As the aborigines had no written musical notation, the exact nature of their musical system remains a matter of conjecture. Carlos Chavez, composer-investigator, maintains that "the Aztecs understood and applied the natural phenom- enon of harmonics." He bases this conclusion on a study of the sounds produced by the conch shell. Chavez states that the Indians derived a pentatonic scale from these sounds.5 According to Vicente Mendoza, the indigenous peoples of Mexico founded a musical system using seconds, fourths, fifths and thirds derived from a scale of seven tones obtained through double flutes.6 Through investigation of )Ibid. , pp. 24-28. 5carlos Chvez, La Musica Azteca (Me'xico, 1928), p. 4.1 6 Vicente Mendoza, "Muisica Indgena de Mexico," Mexico en el Arte, IX (1950), 13. ancient instruments and recordings made of the music of remote Indian tribes, scholars have reconstructed what they believe to be the melodic and rhythmic system of the early indigenes. Examples of this information transposed to our system of notation can be seen in present day works.7 Assuming the validity of the musical system and melo- dies of the aborigines, the question arises as to their importance. What bearing do these melodies have on the music of contemporary Mexico? Robert Stevenson gives this answer to the question: In a country such as Mexico, which even today contains a larger group of Indians than of persons with pure European blood, the indigenous expressions in art and music assume almost the value of national palladiums. As symbols of Indian cultural achievement in a nation so largely made up even yet of pure- blooded Indians, any fragment or shard of Indian music gathers to itself a spiritual significance that far transcends its objective value in the eyes of foreign musicians.8 The European element entered the music of Mexico with the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. After subjugating the natives in a military way, Cortez sought to completely dominate the Indians by destroying their culture and sup- planting it with the Spanish mode. Precisely because music 7Martf, Instrumentos Musicales Precortesianos, pp. 159- 179. 8 Stevenson, Music in Mexico, pp. 43-44. constituted an important ideological factor in the state organization of the ancient native kingdoms, it was banned and replaced by European music which the conquerors employed very deliberately as a political weapon. The indigenes took up and mastered the European music with amazing speed, attesting to the innate musicality of the aborigines.9 Not only was the music of the Roman Catholic Church readily absorbed by the Indians but everything which was sung and played by the entourage of competent musicians in the com- pany of Cortez was eagerly copied by the natives. Thus with the advent of religious, secular and folk music brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, there began what Miguel Galindo terms in his history of Mexican music "Neo-Hispanic" music.10 Among important figures and happenings of colonial church music in this Neo-Hispanic period one finds the Catho- lic priest Pedro de Gante (1480-1572).